It took penalty shots, but the undefeated Marine Harvest Upper Island Riptide U18 Girls pulled off the upset by beating West Vancouver in the Coastal Cup Final 2-1.
“Although it was not our best game, we managed a win at the end of the day and the girls are very happy,” said coach Scott Harris.
The game was held in Aldergrove and the U18 girls were up early to catch the morning ferry to Vancouver.
It was a very warm day and the game was tied 1-1 after 90 minutes of play and then again after 30 more minutes of extra time.
The dreaded penalty shots were needed to determine who would be the Coastal Cup winners.
Four of the five Riptide shooters, including Port Hardy’s Kaleigh Harris, scored.
While West Vancouver came up short in the final, the two teams will have an opportunity for a rematch in July when both will see each other at the Provincial Championships in Richmond.
The Riptide won the Vancouver Island Premier League, Port Coquitlam won the Vancouver league and West Vancouver beat out Coquitlam to come in second place in the Coastal Cup, so they have also made it through to the Provincials.
For now the Riptide will wait on the winner of the BC interior league, and that will make up the four teams that will go to playoffs in Richmond to determine the best U18 girls team in the province.
For the month of June, the Riptide will be preparing for the July event showdown.
“We now get a bit of a break before our final preparations,” said Harris. “These girls are motivated and dig deeper when it really counts, they are an amazing bunch.”
If you want to see the U18 Riptide Girls in action, they will be coming up to the North Island to play in June Sports in Alert Bay in the women’s division.
